Actually Zakaria is not upset that the government will give far more money to the average rich person this year than the average child. He is upset that it spends more money on the elderly.

The main reason that the government spends more on the elderly than the young is that we run a public pension program, Social Security, through the government. We also run a seniors' health insurance program, Medicare, through the government. In both cases people pay a dedicated tax for these benefits. (The Medicare tax does not pay for the whole cost of the program.)

Zakaria is upset that seniors are allowed to receive the benefits that they have paid for. By the same logic, he should be upset that billionaires like Peter Peterson can get millions or even tens of millions of dollars in interest each year on the government bonds they own. After all, this money would be far better spent educating our children than being put in the pockets of these incredibly wealthy people. The Zakaria methodology would have us go after these interest payments on the debt, if it were applied consistently.